New Sculptures Light up Van Ness Avenue

New Sculptures Light up Van Ness Avenue
By Luis “Loui” Apolonio

Light sculpture at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street

Spectators gathered both online and in person to watch new lighting sculptures on Van Ness turned on for the first time on March 31, 2022. The whimsical and brightly colored sculptures located on the new Van Ness BRT boarding platform between Geary and O’Farrell are made of steel with LED lights inside on a timer set to illuminate at night.

The lighting event was kicked off with SFMTA Director Jeff Tumlin and MTAB Chair Gwyneth Borden serving as emcees. Mary Chou, Director of Public Arts and Collections at the San Francisco Arts Commission, spoke about the art installation itself, as well as the process for selecting the artist who would be awarded the project. In addition, Maddy Ruvolo, a member of the SFMTA’s Accessible Services team and a recently appointed member of President Biden’s U.S. Access Board, shared the importance of having accessibility as a part of transportation projects.

However, the true star of the evening was the light sculpture itself—the two installations at the intersections of Geary and O’Farrell streets are parts of a single piece of art. At a prime location among the culture, arts and civic life of Van Ness Avenue, this artwork is meant to inspire conversation.

Contrasts among Pardo’s modern fixtures provide pops of bright color and light against the architecture and more muted tones nearby. The light sculpture at once stands out as being unique and colorful while also complementing the space in which it exists without competing with the surrounding visual elements in the area.

Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo described the sculpture as “an urban coastal redwood.. it is made of steel, light and weather… it is young not old… it comes out of the concrete…not the soil…it does not grow… its purpose is to orient and remind… maybe of the past... maybe the present... it is an urban machine…”

Pardo, who is based in Los Angeles, is an internationally acclaimed contemporary artist and 2010 MacArthur Fellow known for colorful, architectural, thought-provoking designs. His work is displayed in Miami, Berlin, New York and Paris, and now San Francisco.

The San Francisco Arts Commission selected his proposal which was then shared with the public for comments in 2015. San Francisco’s commitment to public art is codified in the 1969 Arts Enrichment Ordinance, which mandates a percentage of construction costs be earmarked for public art.

Pardo’s creations provide plenty for San Franciscans to discuss. Next time you’re on a bus traveling down Van Ness, visit the new installation and be sure to catch a selfie of yourself with the sculptures.

Published in memoriam of our colleague, Luis “Loui” Apolonio.

Published May 07, 2022 at 04:51AM
https://ift.tt/UdpFs83

Comments

MTA Board of Directors Welcomes Lydia So

MTA Board of Directors Welcomes Lydia So By Stephen Chun Lydia So, a championed public servant, advocate for the AAPI community and an accomplished urban planner, designer and architect, has joined the SFMTA’s Board of Directors. She was appointed in June 2023 and sworn in by Mayor London Breed on Aug. 23, 2023, at Central Subway’s Chinatown Rose Pak Station, in line with her personal connection with the Chinatown community. So was born in Hong Kong and is fluent in Chinese (Cantonese). She is the founder of the architecture firm SOLYD Architecture, Management and Design. She is a former Historic Preservation Commissioner for the San Francisco Planning Department where she voted in favor of the Potrero Yard Modernization Project that is expected to bring hundreds of housing units to our city while maintaining the functions of the SFMTA. She was the first Chinese American Historic Preservation Commissioner, implemented the Planning Department’s Racial and Social Equity policy and

1 crore COVID-19 cases worldwide; death toll crosses 5 lakh https://ift.tt/2NCSU3C

The world has now seen over 1 crore cases of COVID-19, the illness which started spreading in the very beginning of the year and has now killed over 5 lakh people worldwide. As per latest figures, the world has seen 10,080,224 coronavirus cases including 501,262 deaths. Over 5 million people have also recovered after contracting the virus. from IndiaTV: Google News Feed https://ift.tt/3i81jtT

New top story from Time: The Ballroom Scene Has Long Offered Radical Freedoms For Black and Brown Queer People. Today, That Matters More Than Ever

https://ift.tt/2O8qsKr Marginalized by prejudice, violence, housing insecurity, and HIV infection rates among other burdens, Black and brown transgender and gender-nonconforming people face particular challenges in establishing secure, nourishing communities—both within LGBTQ spaces and in society at large. One response to these stigmas has been the formation of self-sustaining social networks and cultural groups, such as the ballroom scene, a formidable social movement and creative collective for LGBT people of color. Amid what has been called a new golden age for Black culture and storytelling , a particular “Renaissance” in queer Black art and cultural representation is clear. Ballroom culture is now widely seen and celebrated (and appropriated) in the mainstream—across fashion campaigns, music videos, social media and in TV shows like Pose , Legendary , and RuPaul’s Drag Race . And i n this moment, ballroom and voguing as the body politic has much to teach the world abou

FOX NEWS: 9-year-old kid finds $5k in cash while cleaning used car Sometimes, it literally pays to clean your car.

9-year-old kid finds $5k in cash while cleaning used car Sometimes, it literally pays to clean your car. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3fTmQpQ

FOX NEWS: California couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell.

California couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3BKWsrb

FOX NEWS: 19-year-old shelter cat adopted after his birthday party goes viral: 'Open your heart' A senior shelter cat named Sammy was quickly adopted after going viral on TikTok.

19-year-old shelter cat adopted after his birthday party goes viral: 'Open your heart' A senior shelter cat named Sammy was quickly adopted after going viral on TikTok. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3xXcnkE

New top story from Time: ‘Some Seeds Are Being Planted.’ How Yasuke Paves a New Path for Black Creators in Anime

https://ift.tt/2PCZdsF It was around 13 years ago when LeSean Thomas first learned of Yasuke. At that time, Thomas came across the 1968 Japanese children’s book Kuro-suke by Kurusu Yoshio and saw illustrations of the real-life African warrior who arrived in 16th century Japan and served under Oda Nobunaga—a greatly influential feudal lord who is widely regarded as the first unifier of the country. “It kind of felt like a secret treasure,” Thomas said. He found it particularly fascinating that the story of Yasuke, largely considered to be the first foreign-born samurai, was told in a Japanese work. “I just thought it was really cool that there was someone in Japan who was validating this because a s a concept in the West at that time, it was kind of viewed as a self-insert culturally to put a Black man with someone who was one of the unifiers of Japan,” Thomas told TIME in a recent Zoom interview. “Even at the time I didn’t believe it.” That disbelief has since faded, a

Nitish Kumar will ditch BJP to join RJD after poll results: Chirag Paswan https://ift.tt/3kByTcP

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his party Janata Dal (United) have done preparations to ditch the BJP and join Rashtriya Dal Party (RJD) after the poll results are out, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan said on Wednesday. Firing a fresh salvo at Kumar, Chirag Paswan said he has done preparations to leave the BJP and go with the RJD after the elections.

New top story from Time: How a Long History of Intertwined Racism and Misogyny Leaves Asian Women in America Vulnerable to Violence

https://ift.tt/3dLVkcS In the weeks since eight people, six of whom were Asian women , were killed in a mass shooting at three massage businesses in the Atlanta area, the conversations prompted by the event have continued—as has the fear felt by many Asian and Asian American women, for whom the violence in Georgia felt intimately familiar. The mass shooting followed a year of increased anti-Asian violence and racist attacks , which advocates say has been fueled by xenophobic rhetoric about the COVID-19 pandemic. Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting database created at the start of the pandemic as a way to chart the attacks, received 3,795 reports of anti-Asian discrimination between March 19, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021; of those attacks, women reported hate incidents 2.3 times more often than men. However, in a press conference following the shooting spree, Captain Jay Baker, a spokesperson for the Cherokee County, Ga., sheriff’s office, said that the suspect, a white man, claim

Delhi Metro services hit due to farmers protest; entry, exit gates at 6 stations closed https://ift.tt/3dSxmN0

In view of “Delhi chalo”, a massive protest march by farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other parts of India, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Friday announced the closure of entry & exit gates at six metro stations on the Green Line. The Delhi Metro authorities had earlier announced that services from neighbouring cities will remain suspended on Friday

My precise view

Search This Blog